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What is your earliest memory?
Dhaka airport in 1971 — I was three. The civil war was raging. My mum was trying to get us out. We had to go to the airport about a dozen times before we could get on a flight. My memory is the crowds, it being really frightening, being scared I was going to lose my mum, and holding on really tight. -
Who was or still is your mentor?
When I first started writing short stories, I found this online group. You submitted your story anonymously and people critiqued it anonymously. I drew a lot of encouragement from it, and I learnt a lot. Those people whose names I don’t know set me on the path to writing my first novel. -
How fit are you?
According to my Fitbit, I have excellent cardio fitness ratings for a woman my age! I do HIIT, although I’ve switched to the low-impact version, and I’ve started training with weights. I do a lot of yoga. I have a dog, so I walk. -
Tell me about an animal you have loved.
We had a border terrier called Poppy. She would lie across my feet, and remind me when it was time to go for a walk. I’d read my work to her, and she’d listen intently with her head cocked — at least for a few minutes. She died last year. I cried for weeks. -
Risk or caution, which has defined your life more?
In a physical sense, definitely caution. You would never catch me contemplating a bungee jump. But in terms of writing, what would caution look like? Maybe repeating a formula, or trying to please a specific audience. There’d be no joy in that. Writing is about throwing caution to the winds. When you’re writing about something that feels uncomfortable, you’re exploring something worth exploring. -
What trait do you find most irritating in others?
Arrogance. Hypocrisy. Laziness. Selfishness. It’s all good material; I can quite enjoy observing those qualities in others. -
What trait do you find most irritating in yourself?
Being a control freak. Worrying. Overanalysing. Feeling anxious. -
What drives you on?
I often hate writing. It’s difficult. What keeps me going is the times when I disappear into the words on the page, leave behind my worries, my cares, myself. I look up and I haven’t realised the passage of time. That’s very seductive. -
Do you believe in an afterlife?
No. Some authors have a sort of afterlife in that their work lives on. But most of us get forgotten before we even die. -
Which is more puzzling, the existence of suffering or its frequent absence?
Suffering takes many forms and has many levels of intensity. Are any types of suffering puzzling? Only if you’re unwilling to do the work to understand them. -
Name your favourite river.
The Thames. I love walks along the Embankment. Walking from London Bridge to Greenwich, every time you look back the skyline has changed, every time you turn a corner you’re walking through a different piece of London history. -
What would you have done differently?
I have this fantasy of running a café. I know café owners probably lie awake worrying about suppliers and profit margins and staff. But that’s the fantasy I always come back to when I’m stressed out.
Monica Ali chairs the 2024 Women’s Prize for Fiction judging panel and leads a writing masterclass next month; silkroadslippers.com
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